Defining Rx Opioid Overdose Risk

Patients who use multiple pharmacies concurrently and have overlapping opioid prescriptions appear to be at greater risk for opioid overdoses than others, according to a study. Patients who used four or more pharmacies and had three or more opioid prescriptions had an overdose rate of 26.3 per 1,000 person-years, compared with a rate of 4.3 per 1,000 person-years observed among those with neither condition.